"[Hough's] thorough and lively biography . . . interprets the life with sympathy and skill. From first page to last, Hough leaves no doubt that he is telling the story not merely of a great sailor but also of a great man."--Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book WorldJames Cook, born in 1728, was one of the most celebrated men of his time, the last and the greatest of the romantic navigator/explorers. His voyages in the Royal Navy to the eastern and western seaboards of North America, the North and South Pacific, the Arctic, and the Antarctic brought a new understanding of the worlds geography and of the peoples, flora, and fauna of the lands he discovered.

Richard Hough's vivid narrative captures all the excitement of this age of discovery and establishes Cook as a link between the vague scientific speculations of the early eighteenth century and the industrial revolution to come. A pioneer in many fields, Cook produced maps of unprecedented accuracy; revolutionized the seaman's diet, all but eliminating scurvy; and exploded the myth of the Great Southern Continent imagined by earlier geographers and scientists.

Hough consulted numerous archives and traveled in Cook's wake from Alaska to Tasmania, visiting many of the Pacific islands--including the spot where Cook was stoned to death by cannibals in the Hawaiian archipelago--to produce a comprehensive and immensely readable biography, full of new insights into the life of one of the worlds greatest mariners. Photographs

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La Perouse was named after the French navigator Jean-Francois de Galaup, comte de La Perouse (1741-88), who landed on the northern shore of Botany Bay west of Bare Island in January 1788. La Perouse’s two ships sailed to New South Wales after some of his men had been attacked and killed in the Navigator Islands (Samoa). La Perouse arrived off Botany Bay on 24 January just six days after Captain Arthur Phillip (1738-1814) had anchored just east of Bare Island, in H.M. Armed Tender Supply. On 26 January 1788, as Arthur Phillip was moving the First Fleet around to Port Jackson after finding Botany Bay unsuitable for a Settlement, La Perouse was sailing into Botany Bay,[1][2][3][4] anchoring there just eight days after the British had.

The British received La Perouse courteously, and offered him any assistance he might need. The French were far better provisioned than the English were, and extended the same courtesy; but neither offer was accepted.[5] La Perouse sent his journals and letters to Europe with a British ship, the Sirius. A scientist on the expedition, Father Receveur, died in February and was buried at what is now known as La Perouse. After building a longboat (to replace one lost in the attack in the Navigator Islands) and obtaining wood and water, the French departed for New Caledonia, Santa Cruz, the Solomons, and the Louisiades. He wrote in his journals that he expected to be back in France by December 1788, but the two ships vanished. Some of the mystery was solved in 1826 when items associated with the French ships were found on an island in the Santa Cruz group, with wreckage of the ships themselves discovered in 1964.

La Perouse TowerThe first building in the area was the round stone tower constructed in 1820-22 as accommodation for a small guard of soldiers stationed there to prevent smuggling, and the tower still stands today. By 1885, an Aboriginal reserve had been established in the suburb and a number of missions were operated in the area. The original church was dismantled and moved to the corner of Elaroo and Adina Avenues, where it still stands.

The Loop is the circular track that was built as part of the Sydney tram terminus at La Perouse. The last service ran in 1961. A kiosk was built here in 1896 to cater for tourists who came to see the attractions, including the snake-handling shows that still operate today. During the Great Depression, from the late 1920s, many severely affected low-income families took up residence here in settlements beside the Aboriginal reserve.

The small island just inside the heads was described by Captain James Cook as ‘a small bare island’. Bare Island was fortified in 1885 according to a design by colonial architect, James Barnet (1827-1904). In 1912 Bare Island became a retirement home for war veterans, which continued to operate until 1963 when it was handed over to the New South Wales Parks and Wildlife Service for use as a museum and tourist attraction. [6]

The Henry Head Battery is also located in La PerouseApart from Bare Island there are two other forts located in La Perouse. One of these is Fort Banks, located on Cape Banks. This facility was part of the Eastern Command Fixed Defences unit and was constructed for the purpose of defending the approaches to Botany Bay during the World War II period. The other fortification located in La Perouse is the Henry Head Battery and was also re-utilised during the Second World War. Its location is on Henry Head La Perouse.

The Statue of John Graves Simcoe.

Toronto: Charles Bray took the picture of the statue of John Graves Simcoe in Queens Park. John Graves Simcoe was born in February 25th 1752 and died in October 26th 1806 was the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (modern-day southern Ontario plus the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior from 1791-1796. He founded York [now Toronto] and was instrumental in introducing institutions such as the courts, trail by jury, English common law, freehold land tenure, and for abolishing slavery in Upper Canada long before it was abolished in the British Empire as a whole [it had disappeared from Upper Canada by 1810, but wasn't abolished throughout the Empire until 1834]. John Graves Simcoe was the only son of John and Katherine Simcoe. His father, a captain in the British navy, commanded the 60-gun HMS Pembroke [James Cook] was his sailing master) during the 1745 siege of Louisburg. In 1770, Simcoe entered the British Army as an ensign in the 35th Regiment of foot. His unit was dispatched to America, where he saw action in the Siege of Boston. During the siege, he purchased a captaincy in the Grenadier Company of the 40th Regiment of Foot. With the 40th, he saw action in the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia campaigns. Simcoe commanded the 40th at the Battle of Brandywine, where he was also wounded. In 1777, Simcoe sought to form a Loyalist regiment of free blacks from Boston, but instead was offered command of the Queen's Rangers, a well-trained light infantry unit. The Queen's Rangers saw extensive action during the Philadelphia campaign, including a successful surprise attack (planned and executed by Simcoe), at the Battle of Crooked Billet. In 1779, he was captured by the Americans. Simcoe was released in 1781, just in time to see action at the Siege of Yorktown. He was invalided back to England in December of that year as a Lieutenant-Colonel. Simcoe wrote a book on his experiences with the Rangers, titled A Journal of the Operations of the Queen's Rangers from the end of the year 1777 to the conclusion of the late American War, which was published in 1787.